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New E-M1 Firmware with better video!

We/I developed 2 custom firmwares for the Olympus E-M1 together with Nabil Fathi. Both are tested and should be save to install. Please report any problems you have. If its a small one please use the comments, if it's a bigger one write me an e-mail (check my profile on the right).
You can also flash any official firmware you want. Check my Firmware Control Tool for that.

I would like to produce more, but the testing is up to you. I don't own a E-M1, but @nabilfathi15 does and we are working together to give you features. Also there is a certain risk for everything, so please read the description of each firmware.

The main feature of this release is, that is a bigger part of the sensor for the 1080p videos. This means that a resolution similar to 4k is read by the sensor and then downscaled to 1080p. You gain a lot of nice things like:

The Auto Focus in videos should be smoother.

Full Sensor read in video mode. No crop.

Better ISO performance in low light video situations

More Dynamic Range in video

This firmware is based on the official version 2.0.

This firmware is in development. The changes are sometimes only visible if you compare the firmware with he unhacked one side by side.Please report your experience with the firmware.Future plans:
Because the firmware Olympus designed is not very well developed we do our best to continue.
Next up would be a higher framerate, higher bitrate and of cause the 4k feature itself.
Stay tuned for new possible updates and check this blog on a regular basis. I can't promise these features, but nevertheless we are working to enable those.

The last 2 videos are UPSCALED and not native 4k. It's done to show all the details of the video.

How to flash a firmware

Method 1:Extract the file and put the whole folder "DCOLYMP" on your SD-Card. Check if the firmware file is inside the folder and put the SD-Card into your camera. Now start the camera while pushing the OK button. The red LED will go on for about 1 minute. If it's flashing on/off you know, that the process is finished. You can restart your camera now and you're all done.

Download

Firmware 1: Mega.co.nz
This firmware was produced in cooperation with @nabilfathi15 - never-prod.com.
This firmware is save and has been tested. Though some users reported, that the WiFi is not working with the firmware. In this case please please flash back to the normal 2.0 firmware.
Sometimes there is problem with the output file. On some of our SD-Cards the video file would not want to save. But see for your self.

Firmware 2: http://gdurl.com/edAq/download
This firmware only has 1 feature.
Changed the INFO screen for the firmware button as seen here.
The firmware is based on version 1.4
This firmware should be save.

Q: Will this break my camera? Is my warranty void?
A: No it will not break or brick your camera if you follow the tutorial. Even if something goes wrong your warranty should stay intact and you can contact your company to get a new camera.

Q: My WiFi is not working any more.
A: Please use my Firmware Control Tool to download and flash the normal 2.0 firmware

Q: I don't see any difference. What did you change?
A: Look at this Showcase to see the benefits of this firmware. If you don't see a difference I can't help you. You will have to wait until we release a new firmware. If you really want to know what we changed and also want to help us with the coding you can contact me.

Please donate some money to ensure further development. I would never force you to do that, but I spent many hours of developing and hacking.

I think its do dangerous, so I removed the links. I will have a look again.

I compiled a new firmware from the OM-D E-M10 firmware files and other modifications. This firmware is highly experimental and highlylikely to brick your camera. Only test it, if you can do without it. If you want to test it nevertheless:

Download the firmware here

Follow this tutorial to flash the firmware

Alternatively you can create a folder called "DCOLYMP" on your sd card and put the file in there. Start your camera while pushing the OK button to flash it. If the LED blinks on/off the process is finished.
If you flashed the firmware, please let me know!

Tip: If you brick it, your warranty is not touched. You can get a new one from Olympus.

How to install the firmware - Old Tutorial

Use the official Olympus Update Tool just like normal. More information here.

You are all done! Have fun with the firmware.

Questions

Is this save? Can this hurt my camera?
No, it will most likely not hurt your camera. This should be all save. Be aware of the risks, but don't be scared. Nothing is hacked here. Nothing modified. You wont loose your warranty if anything goes wrong.

Is this allowed?
Yes it is. 100%.

Will I loose my warranty?
No you will not. But maybe you want to wait for any claims after the firmware if officially released to be save.

Is this an official update?
Yes it's 100% official and made by Olympus itself. This firmware is not an development firmware, hacked or manipulated in any way. It is the original file Olympus will release at Photokina 2014.
Nabil Fathi confirmed it works: https://twitter.com/nabilfathi15
(we found each the firmware on ourselves)

Will Olympus know that I flashed it?
If you tell them or send them the camera before the firmware is released: Yes. Otherwise: No.
Even if you brick/break your camera with a firmware update, they will handle it as a normal defect.

I don't like version 2.0 Can I downgrade?
Yes you can. Download the 1.4 firmware inside the application and flash it.

Other questions
Ask any other questions in the comments or you can contact me if you want.

This was tested with an Olympus OM-D E-M5. It may also work on PEN devices.
If you follow this tutorial to get to the "Test Debug Menu" you can set various different modes. I clicked trough a lot of them and got 2 new debug menus to show up.

1. Color Settings

Prg: 26 Item: variable

I think OSD means OnScreenDisplay, but the thanges you make take no effect. Just a simple "OSD" text is shown, if you click ok.

A lot of people asked me what I do and if they can reproduce what I've done. So I made a little tutorial how you extract, analyze and manipulate an Olympus firmware file.

1. Download all the files you need.

Firmware Control Tool. With this you can flash any firmware you want for your camera. Also you can download all the official updates which are available on the Olympus server.Link: Firmware Control Tool

Firmware extract tool. This tool allows you to extract different files out of the main firmware file. It also is able to extract most of the readable debug text of the firmware. After the whole process you can repack the firmware with this tool.Tool link: Olympus_fw_tools.zipVisualStudio sourcecode: visualStudioCode.rar

You have to download an official firmware with the Firmware Control Tool of 1a). This is the firmware all your work is based on.

Carving Tool. A tool that helps you to search for files stored inside the firmware. Link: carver-recovery

2. Extract the firmware

First open a command window (cmd) with the path of the tool. You can do this if you push SHIFT and right click on the folder. Select "Open command window here":

First take a look at all the commands. Type "oly_fw_manip.exe -?" to see them all. Then you have to extract the main firmware file. Type "oly_fw_manip.exe --unpack --in firmware_file.BIN --out firmware_output.xml". You can also find all commands as .bat files in the tools folder. You can edit them with any text editor and run them like a normal program.

You will get up to 5 files with the E-M5 and 3 files with other cameras. The filename shows you what the file is about.

Now run the extract command on the "00.main-code-01.bin" file. This is the file where all the code is being stored and also our point where we have to edit the code. But first run in cmd: "oly_fw_manip.exe --analyze --in firmware_file.dissected\00.main-code-01.bin --out .\firmware_file.analysis". You will get all the readable text. This text shows you what part of the code has what purpose. If you find a lot of ISO debug text this part of the code is maybe about the ISO settings.

You will find a lot of interesting strings about WiFi, HDMI, ISO, exposure etc. They are sometimes interesting, but only the fewest are useful because we are not able to execute these debug commands yet. (some SCSI commands worked, but thats not enough) If you have any specific idea how we could send them to the camera, please let me know: e-mail

If you want to extract all photos/images of the firmware you can run the file carver software. It extracts some images you can search for in the hex code as well. This means you can edit the picture and paste the code again into the firmware file.

3. Manipulate the firmware

Now edit the firmware file. I prefer to edit it with a HEX editor. I use this one: wxhexeditor
You
may have to find patterns that look similar and edit them. For example
you can find the hex values for 100,200,250 etc which are the lower ISO values
and edit them. This way I managed to enable ISO 80,125 & 160
values. Link: new-iso-values

You can also use IDA Pro to reverse engineer the code. The processor of the E-M5 is a "Matshi-MN103". The other cpus are unknown yet. If you want further information on this visit this link or ask me.

You can download multiple firmware files of different cameras and compare the code. For example the E-M1 firmware 1.1 has got the same resource files as the E-M10 1.1.

4. Repack the firmware

Repack the firmware with cmd: "oly_fw_manip.exe --pack --in firmware_file.xml --out new_firmware_name.BIN". You will get a new file which should be ready to flash

5. Flash the firmware

Start the Firmware Control Tool again and start the server with the new file you just created.

About Me & Contact

Hi my name is Jonathan Schwarzenböck. As of May 2014 I own an Olympus OM-D E-M10 and I'm very happy about it. But as a computer science student I want to research what is possible with my camera. Other hacks for other manufactures have become a standard and I want the same benefits for my gear!